Campaigners taking river pollution protest to the streets of Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury sewage pollution protesters Up Sewage Creek will be joining Extinction Rebellion on Saturday with a stall, leaflets and a ‘poo-o-meter’ on Pride Hill, and will chat to the public about the state of the River Severn in Shrewsbury.

It comes after a recent report in the Shropshire Star revealed that anglers are now catching more tampons than fish in the river as it passes through the town. Shrewsbury Town Council described the situation as ‘embarrassing’ and is setting up a public meeting at Theatre Severn on February 27.

Claire Kirby, from Up Sewage Creek, said: ‘Everyone knows that raw sewage and agricultural run-off is killing our beautiful river. The question is: how do we fix it? We’re reaching out to Shrewsbury residents because unless ordinary people take action, the politicians and water companies will let the Severn die.

"The Environment Agency recently pushed the target date to clean up England’s rivers, lakes, and coastal waters from 2027 to 2063. At this rate none of us will see clean water again in our lifetimes. It’s criminal."

The campaign is part of a national day of ‘Dirty Water’ protests.

Extinction Rebellion groups around the UK will unveil blue plaques to shine a light on the 265 MPs who voted against amendment 45 to the Environment Act 2021 last October. The amendment would have very quickly stopped water companies from pumping waste into rivers and seas. The Government rejected the proposal, saying it would be too expensive.

In Shropshire, Conservative MPs Lucy Allan (Telford), Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury & Atcham), Mark Pritchard (Wrekin), and Owen Paterson (North Shropshire) voted against the amendment. Only Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow and chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee, voted in favour of it.

Environmental campaigner and singer Feargal Sharkey also criticised MPs.

Conservative MPs were initially whipped to vote down the change to the Environment Bill – now the Environment Act 2021.

After a backlash the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the Bill would be “further strengthened”.

MPs went on to vote in favour of introducing tougher legal restrictions on the practice of releasing untreated waste into waterways via storm overflows, with the Government concession approved by 283 to 162 – a majority of 120. Critics said the action would be too slow.

But campaigners say that 'politicians aren't going to save our rivers'.

Frank Daniels from Extinction Rebellion says: "We’ve watched in horror as our rivers and seas have been turned into open sewers since October, when the Government voted down a proposal to stop water companies pumping waste directly into our waterways because it was too expensive to stop them.

"Ordinary people need to realise that the politicians aren’t going to save our rivers.

"If you’re worried about sewage pollution, you need to help us."

She added: "Join Extinction Rebellion in London for 'The Big One' on April 21, when 100,000 ordinary people will tell the Government that it's time to protect our water, our air and our climate from destruction."

A meeting to discuss river quality is being held at Theatre Severn from 6pm on Monday, February 27. Water companies, environmental experts and politicians including Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski have been invited.

Up Sewage Creek’s website is upsewagecreek.com. Details of ‘The Big One’ can be found at extinctionrebellion.uk